One Summer Day
by dimestoredramatic
Summary: Harry bashes Hermione's favourite muggle band and a heated discussion commences. Ron is lost and contributes little to the conversation.


For Luc, who got a 0 on the 'reading for pleasure' part of his 40 developmental assets survey.

I own nothing but the plot.

* * *

It was one of those anomalous blustery cold days in summer and the Weasleys and their two guests had secreted themselves in the toasty warmth of their crooked house, hidden away from the harsh gales outside. Their two guests, of course, were none other than Harry Potter and Hermione Granger, the best friends of Arthur and Molly's youngest son.

This very same son had only just begun to show signs of awakening, eyelids crusted with sleep as he moaned about how exhausted he was. "Ronald Weasley, get up this instant." As the dulcet tones of his mother's gentle voice reached his eardrums, Ron let out another groan. "Jus- jus… few more momesss… Wake'p Harry firs'…" For a few instances, there was silence, and Ron believed that his mother had – mercifully – acquiesced to his request.

Then he felt the blanketing heat of his comforter being wrenched away from him. Suddenly wide awake, he jolted up in bed and yelled "Hey! That's my BLANKET, woman! I need it to ward of hypothermia!"

Mrs. Weasley pursed her lips and said in a strained voice, "You've said that to me every day of every summer for the past sixteen years. This may be the first time that hypothermia has ever been a valid concern."

Ron, still bleary eyed, looked around in confusion. "What do you mean? Isn't it hot out?"

Mrs. Weasley rolled her eyes. "If you'd been up three hours ago, like everyone else in this household, you'd be aware that there are intense winds outside. Nobody is leaving the house today, Ronald."

Ron scowled in contempt; how dare the weather ruin his plans? He and Harry had been planning on playing a game of one-on-one quidditch and it promised to be an extreme match. So immersed was he in his irritation that he just barely caught his mother's last words.

"Hermione and Harry are in the living room, Ron; they have some food in there that you can eat for breakfast."

'_Yum_,' Ron thought, his anger at the weather forgotten, '_breakfast_.'

Stumbling out of bed, he got dressed at an impressive speed before thundering down their rickety staircase. He sprinted straight into the living room and immediately bore down upon the large tray of food, practically inhaling its entire contents.

When he was finally finished eating, he looked up to find Hermione staring at him in something akin to horror. "Ronald Weasley!" she exclaimed, "That was possibly the most disgusting display of food ingestion I have ever witnessed!" A small frown creased Ron's forehead as he turned to face his other best friend. Harry was nodding and sighed before saying, "I hate to admit it, mate, but she's got a point. That was pretty alarming."

Ron glowered at his supposed friends; who were they to harp on about his eating habits? He was hungry, for god's sake, and he could damn well eat how he chose. Throwing Hermione a dirty look, he realized she had some weird black things coming out of her ears; they looked like very thin vines of licorice, but that would be ludicrous. Hermione wouldn't put licorice anywhere near her ears – she wasn't Luna Lovegood, after all.

"What are _those_?" he said cautiously, fearing the worst; after all, it was probably something homework related.

Hermione's face contorted in bewilderment for a moment, before she cottoned on. "Oh," she said, smiling. "Earphones, for my iPod."

This reply didn't do much for Ron's comprehension of the things. He had understood two words in that sentence, and those words were 'for' and 'my'. Not wanting to seem any more ill informed than he already did, Ron merely nodded, wisely, as if that had cleared things up perfectly for him.

Harry laughed at him and said "It's a muggle device for listening to music, Ron." Ron glared at Harry and said "Yes, Harry, I know. I'm not completely ignorant of muggle technicalities, you know."

Harry's grin only broadened, and he said "You mean, technology."

Ron blushed crimson and to cover up for his error, he bellowed, "So, what are you listening to, Hermione!?"

Hermione started at the loudness of Ron's voice, before going nearly as red as Ron. "Oh, well." She said, looking embarrassed. "Muggle bands."

Harry seized the iPod and looked at its screen. His eyes widened in revulsion as he gasped, "The _Jonas Brothers_!? You're listening to the Jonas Brothers?" Ron could tell by the scathing tone with which Harry pronounced their name that the Jonas Brothers were frightening beings. He reverted his gaze to Hermione, to see how she would respond to this comment; his friend was clearly trying not to appear too defensive as she exclaimed, "Don't be like that, Harry! Their songs are very introspective and meaningful!"

Harry snorted in disbelief. "Yeah," he said sarcastically. "Lyrics like 'Next time I see you, I'm giving you a high five, 'cause hugs are overrated just FYI' have real depth."

Hermione buried her face in her hands, but retaliated all the same. "Have you even heard A Little Bit Longer though? You can really empathize with Nick in that one – really get a sense of all the pain he's gone through."

Harry nodded. "I agree completely, Hermione. Real tragic hero, that kid. I mean, diabetes – woah. No worse an ailment than _that._"

Hermione glared. "That's why it's so hard for him, Harry! Because of insensitive jerks like you who bash him for being conscientious of his health!"

Ron was beginning to feel very left out and unwanted in this conversation; he left the room in search of more food, but when he came back, the Jonas Brothers were still the topic of discussion.

"Oh my _God_, you have their stupid book too!? I can't believe you," Harry was saying. Ron didn't understand why Harry would be so surprised – if it was a book, Hermione was bound to have it.

"Actually, Harry, it was the book that got me interested in them. Mom and dad gave it to me as a gift, possibly in the hopes that it would have me acting like a normal girl of sixteen and it all stemmed from there, really. I was hooked on them the instant I read Nick's reply to the question 'One thing you can't live without.'"

"What was his reply," Harry said warily. Ron awaited Hermione's response with what would've been bated breath had he not been chewing a croissant at the time.

"Insulin," Hermione said dreamily, as if insulin were the most romantic word she could ever utter. "He's such a selfless darling, really."

Harry locked eyes with Hermione and said, "Hermione, one of these days, they're gonna find a cure for diabetes. There going to use it on this Nick kid, and he'll be completely alright again. Except for one thing – he'll be an insulin addict. He'll probably die of an insulin overdose."

Hermione looked scandalized as she said in a hushed voice, "Harry! Don't say things like that about my Nicky!"

Here Ron found an opening in the conversation as Harry was rendered speechless. "My Nicky? What do you mean, your Nicky, Hermione!?"

Hermione turned a stark white. "I didn't mean to say that… I just. He's my favourite, and I wish he were my boyfriend."

Harry, finally finding his voice, said "If you had to fall in love with one of them, why couldn't it be _Joe_!? He's the good looking one!" Realizing what he'd said, Harry clamped his hand over his mouth – but the damage was done.

"You like them too?" Ron exclaimed in utter astonishment. "You think one of them is good looking!?"

"Joe?" Hermione said incredulously, bulldozing over Ron's attempts to rejoin the conversation. "He's the ugliest of all of them! Even Kevin is better looking than hideous Joe!"

Harry looked like he could punch her. "Take that back, Hermione!" he hollered. "Take it back now, or so help me-"

Hermione looked frightened, and Ron couldn't blame her. Steam was billowing out of Harry's ears and fury was etched into every line of his visage.

"I'm sorry, Harry, I didn't mean it. Joe is gorgeous, I swear. Even – even better looking than Nicky…" As Harry relaxed, she added cautiously, "How did you hear about them, anyway?"

Ron heard Harry mutter something that sounded vaguely like 'fanfiction,' whatever that was. Hermione seized his arm and gasped, "Really, you've read fanfiction about them! Ohmygosh, this is so cool! We can read some together! Or we could write some, do you like Jonascest?"

Once again, a word Ron was unfamiliar with entered the conversation. But he wasn't about to ask what Jonascest was, because at the moment, he frankly didn't care. All he knew was that Harry and Hermione were off writing a story and he was alone. Maybe he needed to learn more about this band, so he could keep up with his friends. His eyes alighting on the iPooed thing, or whatever Hermione had called it, he took the ear things and inserted them in his ears. He pressed a button on the object and suddenly music was blaring in his ears.

"_A little bit longer, and I'll be fine."_


End file.
